The Cars that Owners Drive Forever

Just as the population is aging with the Baby Boomer generation entering retirement, the nation’s fleet of cars and trucks is likewise approaching senior citizen status. The average age of all light-duty vehicles in the U.S. has reached a new all-time high of 11.5 years according to IHS Automotive in Englewood, Colorado. While those numbers account for a large number being driven by their second or third owners, an average 13.5 percent of cars a decade or older are held onto by their initial purchasers, with some models boasting over 26 percent long-term ownership. That’s according to a recent study conducted by the car shopping website iSeeCars.com in Woburn, Massachusetts. At that, 15 models were found to be at least 1.5 times more likely to kept by their original owners. All of them are imports, including nine Toyotas, five Hondas and a single Subaru. “While it’s not surprising that many Toyotas and Hondas made the list as they have based their reputations on reliability, what is surprising is the makeup of the cars,” says Phong Ly, iSeeCars.com’s CEO. To that end, 10 out of the top 15 models are crossover SUVs and minivans. “These vehicles tend to be largely family cars, so if people buy these cars when they are just starting their families, it stands to reason that these cars would suit them for many years,” Ly says. Of the 15 cars owners most likely keep for 10 or more years, only two - the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry - also place among the top ten models in terms of new-car sales. Most-popular vehicles that retain a below-average percentage of long-term owners include the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup (13.1 percent), Nissan Altima midsize sedan (13.1 percent), the Dodge Ram 1500 (11.7 percent) and Ford F-150 (11.4 percent) pickups, and the Ford Escape (10.9 percent), Chevrolet Equinox (10.0 percent) and Jeep Grand Cherokee (9.5 percent) SUVs. Why are there no domestic cars on the long-term list? Ly says its at least partially a byproduct of the “Big Three’s” dependence on sales to fleets and rental car companies, which are typically shorter-term ownership arrangements, and pickup truck sales, which are more likely to be re-purchased on a regular basis by their commercial owners. In addition, the lack of top-shelf European imports on the list can largely be attributed to the high number of luxury cars (typically at least 50 percent of the segment) that are leased and return to the used car market like clockwork every two to three years. According to iSeeCars’s Ly, cars that are kept for a decade by their original owners can often be solid choices for bargain hunters as inexpensive used cars. “(They) tend to be well-cared-for, in terms of actual maintenance and repairs as well as overall cleanliness, so a car shopper is likely to find more value than in a car that has been through multiple owners and with a history that may not be so straightforward.”